Box-cover fastener.



G. W. RIDPATH.

BOX COVER FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18, 1908.

920,494. Patented May 4, 1909.

// Ill 5 i f .iillllll outrun srx'rns PATENT oriuen CHARLES W. RIDPATH, OF PIERCE CITY, MISSOURI.

BOX-COVER FASTENER.

Application filed May 18, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES IV. ltnna'rn', a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Pierce City, in the county of Lawrence and State of Missouri, have i11- vented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-Cover Fasteners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a box designed to serve as a container for valuable merchandise during shipments thereof, among which may be mentioned jewelry, cutlery, arms, ammunition. liquors, drugs and medicines.

The invention has for its object the pro duction of a shipping box that may not be opened without injury thereto and which therefore is of such nature that the opening or tampering with the boxes during ship ments by unauthorized persons will. be indi cated in the boxes themselves when received by consignees to place such consignees on their guard in order that investigation may be made as to the removal of any contents from the boxes.

Figure l is a perspective view of my box showing its lid withdrawn from its body,

the lid being partly broken out to illustrate a concealed inaccessible member at the lower side thereof. Fig. II is a longitudinal section through the box and lid with the central portion of the lid shown partly in edge view. F i III is a cross section taken on line llI--iIL Fig. II, looking in the direction of the arrow crossing said line.

In the accompanying drawings: 1 is the bottom, 2 are the side walls, 8 is the rear wal 4 is the front wall and the lid of a box.

8 designates a spring locking tongue that is concealed and inaccessible and applied to the front wall l of the box body at the inner side thereof and which is provided with a free end that is bent rearwardly as seen at 9. and sharpened. This free end of the looking tongue extends above the top of the front wall and it is adapted to engage the lower surface of the lid 5 when said lid is introduced into the box body so that it will provide means to prevent the withdrawal of the lid from the box body. The locking tongue is preferably secured to the front wall of the box body by a staple l0 and the lower end of the tongue is preferably bent at an angle to the body of the tongue and Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1909.

Serial No. 433,862.

seated in the front wall beneath said staple, as seen in dotted lines, Fig. II. It will be seen that the locking tongue provides such concealed engagement between the lid and the box body as to effectually prevent the withdrawal of the lid after it has been put in place in the box body, inasmuch as, in the event of any attempt to slide the lid from the box, the locking tongue in such event bites into the lid.

In some instances as in the production of boxes of any considerable size, it is necessary to make the lids of the boxes constructed in accordance with my invention of two or more pieces as illustrated in Figs. I and III and lids so made might be pried upwardly from the box body to remove them in the absence of any means for preventing the uplifting of one or more pieces of the lid. I therefore provide a concealed and inaccessible catch arm 11 which is secured to the front wall of the box body by suitable means, such as a staple 12, the lower end of the arm being bent at right angles to the body thereof and seated in the front wall, as seen in dotted lines Fig. II. The catch arm 11 is preferably of spring material and its upper free end is provided with a hook 13 which is located above the top of the front box body wall t and extends forwardly so as to overhang said wall, as seen in'Fig. II. The hook of the catch arm is adapted to engage a loop or staple l4 seated in and depending from the box lid near its forward end and the bow of which is located at the lower side of the lid. To provide for the ready engagement of the catch arm hook with the bow of the loop 14, I produce a recess 4 in the lower side of the lid and adjacent to said loop.

hen my box is ready for service, the parts thereof appear as illustrated in Fig. I previous to the introduction of the lid in the body of the box. After the box has been filled and is to be closed, the lid is slipped into the body. As the lid is moved rearwardly it rides in contact with the upper free end of the locking tongue and when any attempt is made to move the lid forwardly to withdraw it from the box body, the free end of said tongue bites into the lid at its bottom.

Upon the lid being entirely inserted into the box body, the hook of the catch arm 11 comes into engagement with the bow of the loop H and said catch arm will then act to prevent upward movement of the lid if any attempt is made to pry the lid out of the box body in instances where such lid is made of more than one piece.

lVhen my safety box is to be opened, the lid may be removed by breaking the box at any desired point, such for instance as by splitting oft the upper portions of the side and rear Walls of the box body at the location of the grooves therein, thereby permitting the ready separation of the lid from the box and at the same time destroying the box so that it cannot be again refilled and a; have the same exterior appearance as when it "was used by the original party Whose goods Were packed therein.

sliding lid; of a catch arm secured to the front Wall of the box at the inner side thereof, and a loop carried by the lid and adapted to be engaged by the catch arm when the lid introduced into the box.

CHARLES lV. RIDPATH. In presence of En. RYAN, Minn FLAI-IERTY. 

